And it’s at the door of the Mass CCC to sort it out..
The president of a local law enforcement group is sounding alarms about the reliability of cannabis products in Massachusetts. Matt Gutwill, President of the New England Narcotic Officers Enforcement Association, argues that THC percentages in cannabis products are being inflated.
“What they’re doing is they’re ripping off the consumer,” Gutwill said.
THC percentages below what is on label
Gutwill and his organization say they have tested more than 100 products from multiple dispensaries over the past two years and found that a significant number had THC percentages below what was stated on the products’ labels.
“[The testing] is saying it’s 12.8% and .1% CBD. But when we purchased this, [the label] said that it was 34.65% THC level,” said Gutwill, showing how he tested a joint using a NIRLAB screening device.
Gutwill argues that THC inflation is a symptom of a larger problem, a lack of oversight by state regulators of cannabis testing labs.
Massachusetts regulations require cannabis products to be tested by licensed labs before they can be sold at dispensaries. Rumors of “lab-shopping” or trying out different labs to get the most favorable result, have swirled in the industry. Gutwill says it is possible because the Cannabis Control Commission, the state’s regulatory body which oversees cannabis commercialization, does not conduct its own random testing.
“They are doing nothing on the enforcement end,” Gutwill said.
Yeast, mold found in cannabis samples
Over the summer, the CCC took its most significant enforcement action to date, suspending Assured Testing Laboratories in Tyngsboro for failing to report samples of cannabis that showed the presence of yeast and mold.
Read more
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/massachusetts-cannabis-marijuana-thc-levels-fraud/
